Montana Hill Guest Ranch — Local services in Area L (Lone Butte/Interlakes)

My best friend C.H. and her family had booked three cabins for a 5 night/ 6 day stay for earlier this summer. Due to the wildfire situation, C.H asked the owners, Elaine and Al, if it would be ok to postpone their stay til this fall. Elaine and Al graciously agreed and the dates for the stay was set for mid October of this year. At the last minute, C.H had family members who were unable to stay at one of the three cabins and so she asked if my husband and I would like to join them. I had heard about Montana Hill Guest Ranch and immediately accepted this amazing invitation. ||As soon as my husband and I drove up to the main gate and saw two of the furried, four legged residents frolicking in the fields, I knew it was going to be one of the best holidays I would ever have. I was NOT disappointed!||I was very impressed that each cabin was fully self contained and did NOT lack for anything! Even though their website advertises " a small kitchenette in each cabin" it MORE than met our needs for feeding the 6 adults and 2 children in our party for the week. The BBQs were newer and worked well for all of us. The small fridge held an amazingly large amount of food and there NEVER seemed to be a lack of hot water ever! ||Having our own personal little two person hot tub was delightful and each cabin was well and fully stocked with tons of wonderful amenities and toiletries that came in very handy during our stay. There was an abundance of towels and lots of additional bedding for those who might find it a little chilly at night. ||The absolute best part of our stay was the many animals around the ranch that would roam freely. We were greeted daily by the horses and cows (Chief, Sully, Stella and MJ to name just a few) and I looked forward to seeing the free range chickens that would always greet me every morning at my door. I fell instantly in love with Lu, the jungle bobcat who Elaine and Al walked twice daily and Sabrina, the amazing Bengal cross that even brought us proudly a couple of her "special offerings" from the fields ! ;) I loved watching the Stellar Jays fly amongst the trees and looked forward to seeing the gigantic resident raven do a fly by our cabin every morning and afternoon.||The sunrises and sunsets were breathtaking and the utter serenity surrounding the ranch could not be beat anywhere. Although we did not have a chance to make cheese or go horse back riding, I look forward to my next stay next year to partake in these activities. My group and I did manage to milk Lexi, the gentle Jersey cow and bottle feed the two adorable 2 1/2 month old orphan calves. That truly was a highlight of our trip. ||If you are looking for a quiet place in the country to get away from it all, then Montana Hill Guest Ranch is the place...

I would recommend avoiding this place at all costs. I booked a night here for stop between Jasper and Vancouver looking for a farm/ranch experience for my family. I reached out the day before our arrival to work out check in timing as requested on their site. In the note, I told them we would be interested in the meals and a horseback ride things that are prominently offered on their website.|I get a response that the hosts/owners are on holiday and that no meals are available and that rides are not for beginning riders. That as a courtesy they would give us some eggs and we could figure out the rest. |At this point, I’m annoyed that what was promoted and offered by the hosts are not available and those were the primary reasons why we decided to stay there. I told them this and asked to have them cancel the reservation (we were past cancellation period) and we would just find another place. Host refused and said they would come back early to make sure we had meals and would set up a ride on our departure date. So the host actually LIED when they said they did not offer rides for inexperienced riders.|I told them they didn’t have to cut the trip short just for us and asked again to cancel reservation. She insisted that it was no bother for them to come back now that there was another booking for the night (so apparently we were the only booking at the time the hosts decided to go on holiday, another shady action).|At this point, I inquired about the meals to see what would actually be served as my wife and son have some gluten and dairy issues, not deathly allergic but they typically try to avoid. At this point the host states that she could not serve them since there is not a nearby hospital. Did not consider or offer any alternatives. Now, I’m basically done dealing with the host. I reach out to Expedia to see if they can mediate the situation and the host becomes unresponsive. I wait a few hours to see if they can resolve before finally cancelling the reservation. I am charged for the night since I’m passed the cancellation date even though the host lied about horseback rides and would not consider any food information or accommodations (we had no other issues throughout our 10 day trip in Canada when it came to meals). I think any respectable establishment would have cancelled the reservation without penalty since you aren’t meeting your customer’s needs but these folks apparently just...

I am writing this review again as I can no longer see my review on Google and I feel it's important for people to know this. I understand that there are techniques to remove reviews so I'm hoping that doesn't happen on platforms like this.||||My friends took to the ranch for my bachelorette weekend in October. The ranch looks great however the cabin I was in wasn't very clean, there was half a smoked joint on the bedside table and the towels were like rock because they air dry them in the winter. The worst part is I broke my dominant arm because the owner, who has over 20 years experience, did not cinch the saddle on the horse correctly. Nor did he train his helper not to run towards a horse, which he did once he noticed the saddle was coming undone. Of course the horse, who was at a complete stop, got startled and took off running. I was tossed off the horse and once the horse came to a stop the saddle had come off on the right side and was dangling to the left. When I noticed something was wrong the horse had come to a complete stop. I could have been easily helped off the horse. Instead, we had to drive one hour to the nearest hospital. I was put in a temporary cast and told to go back to Vancouver to have emergency surgery.||||Two months before my wedding, a month before I moved and so many added expenses. You can just imagine the stress load. I reached out to the ranch owners to ask if they would help with the added expenses as I didn't want to go down the legal path. They declined. Also, they have no insurance. I did eventually exercise my legal right and have a lawyer look at the waiver. I learned that there was no recourse for "negligence" as the waiver clears them of any wrongdoing under the "equipment malfunction cause".||||It has been four months since the emergency surgery and the costs continue to add up due to required physiotherapy. I've been told that I may get up to 80% of my mobility back and I'm left with a permanent 3.5" scare on my arm.||||Update: I have about 90% of my mobility back because I underwent stem cell treatment otherwise my arm would have been a much bigger problem for the rest of my life. The cost I've incurred has been over $20K. ||||If you are considering booking a stay at the Montana Hill Guest Ranch please we careful if you are signing any legal documents and insure you...